Here at Femail, we ordered a few bottles from Molcajete Taqueria in NoHo, at $2.50 a pop, to compare and contrast with a bottle of regular American Coke.

We found that while most said they preferred the Mexican version when they could see which was which, half failed to correctly identify the two drinks when they did a blind test.

SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN AND MEXICAN COKE?

Femail ordered a few bottles from Molcajete Taqueria in NoHo, at $2.50 a pop, to compare and contrast with a bottle of regular American Coke.

When the taste-testers knew which version they were drinking, the overall consensus was that the Mexican version, while more watery than its American counterpart, tasted more ‘naturally sweet’.

By contrast, the high-fructose corn syrup-infused beverage was said to have a more ‘synthetic’ taste. ‘It makes your mouth feel sour and bitter,’ explained one person.

After sipping the two drinks from unnamed cups, however, half of our taste-testers said they preferred the Mexican Coke, while the other half stuck to the American version.

The ratio of people who correctly guessed which soda was which was also split in half.

Indeed, a 2010 Food Politics study suggested that there may not be a difference at all between the two versions.

Researchers who examined a sample of Mexican Coke could not find any sucrose in it, but they ‘did find plenty of glucose and fructose’.

They noted that their findings meant either that Mexican Coke is also made with high-fructose corn syrup, or that the bottle had aged, causing the sucrose to ‘invert’ into its constituent glucose and fructose.

In any case, Mexican Coke aficionados often praise their preferred drink for being healthier, a claim that is disputed among experts.

A 2004 study, published by researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University, stated that high-fructose corn syrup is a significant factor in America’s obesity epidemic.

But according to the Mayo Clinic, ‘there’s insufficient evidence to say that high-fructose corn syrup is any less healthy than other types of sweeteners’.

Whether or not it is healthier, tastier, or even any different at all, Mexican Coke’s trend status is undeniable.

And for those who don’t want to shell out for the imported drink, there is another alternative: Coca-Cola switches their formula to real sugar once a year during Jewish Passover, when observant Jews aren’t allowed to eat corn.